Community Health

Textbook Listing for Summer and Fall 2008

The Department of Community Health offers two sequence of courses:

MBA with Health Care Management Certification
MPA/Community Health Administration

MBA with Health Care Management
MBA students interested in pursuing the MBA with the health care management option must take COHE 6000, 6600, 6610, and 6620 as electives in the MBA program. A certificate of completion will be issued by the College of Allied Health Sciences. Other graduate students interested in taking these electives must confer with the program directors of the respective schools.

MPA/Community Health Administration
In cooperation with the Department of Political Science, graduate students seeking the master of public administration degree (MPA) may take 15 semester hours in COHE, and approved electives for the completion of an emphasis in community health administration. Required courses are the following: COHE 6000, 6100, 6300, 6971. Electives may be taken from the following: BIOS 5010; COHE 6502; ENGL 5780; ACCT 6241; FINA 6144. Students completing the concentration in community health meet the educational requirements for certification as Local Health Administrator I in North Carolina in either public health or mental health administration.

For more information about the MPA and MBA options in Community Health, please call your respective department.

COHE: COMMUNITY HEALTH

6000. Health Care Systems and Problems (3) P: Consent of instructor. Advanced study of contemporary health care problems. Evolution, philosophy, and present and future trends of our health care system. Emphasis on health policy and practices of community health service institutions and agencies.

6300. Health Law (3) P: Consent of instructor. Process and substance of law related to organization and delivery of health services in the US. Recognition of legal issues arising in the practice of health administration, understanding of how legal system thinks, and effective communicate with lawyers practicing in health care field.

6600. Management of Health Care Operations (3) P: COHE 6000. Focus on day-to-day operational aspects of managing health care organizations. Operational needs of various health care providers. Emphasis on legal, marketing, service, quality, and personnel issues.

6610. Financial Management of Health Care Organizations (3) P: COHE 6000; FINA 6144. Focus on acquisition, allocation, and management of financial resources within health care organizations. Emphasis on application of financial tools to unique problems of these organizations.

6620. Health Care Strategic Planning and Management (3) P: COHE 6600, 6610. Focus on methods for strategic planning and management health services organizations. Emphasis on techniques for determining strategies for unique services. Integrates strategy, structure, and administrative systems.

SCHEDULE OF OFFERINGS

SS106

F06

S07

SS107

F07

S08

SS108

F08

S09

SS109

F09

S10

SS110

F10

COHE 6000

COHE 6300

COHE 6600

COHE 6610

COHE 6620

Other Offerings

6100. Community Health Administration (3) P: COHE 6000 or consent of instructor. Role and application of basic administrative theory and practice in health service institutions and agencies. Emphasis on public aspects of health service.

6500, 6502. Independent Study (2,3) P: Approval of outline of study by student’s committee or advisor. Tutorial study or supervised research in contemporary health problems, programs, and educational methods.

6971. Health Policy (3) Same as NURS 6971 Overview of health policy and legal issues related to delivery of health care. Emphasis on action, theory, and roles; strategies of power politics; legal foundations; and trends in policy formation with implications for health care administrators.

6990. Internship in Community Health (3) P: COHE 6000 or consent by the student’s advisor and the Department of Community Health. Professional learning experience in work study program in community health setting. Supervised by experienced health professional approved by Department of Community Health and student’s faculty advisor.

Faculty

Robert R. Kulesher, Ph.D. (kulesherr@ecu.edu)

Dr. Kulesher is a health policy specialist and an experienced hospital and nursing home administrator. Originally from Washington, DC, Dr Kulesher attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania where he received a BA degree in psychology. In preparation for a career in health services management, he received the Master of Health Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis. After a 20-year career in health care administration, he earned a Ph.D. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware. His research focuses on the impact of Medicare reimbursement on healthcare providers. Additional areas of interests include national health policy, healthcare financial management, health care of the poor and uninsured, health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. Dr. Kulesher is a member of the faculty at East Carolina University in the department of Health Services and Information Management and is Director of the Health Services Management program. Previously he held faculty appointments at Penn State and St. Joseph’s universities and Rutgers University-Camden as visiting professor in public policy and administration.

Thomas K. Ross, Ph.D. (rossth@ecu.edu)

Dr. Ross is an economist who has worked in health care finance as a director of patient accounts and as a financial analyst. He has also worked for two computer services firms offering budgeting, cost accounting, and cost reporting software for health care organizations. Dr. Ross received a Ph.D. in Economics from St. Louis University and an M.B.A., M.A., and B.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati. After graduating from St. Louis University he worked for six years in the School of Public and Environment Affairs at Indiana University South Bend. In addition to public affairs course he taught courses in health care systems, health care finance, statistical methods for health services, and strategic management in health care organizations. This was followed by a four year stint in the McGowan School of Business at King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA. In the Master of Health Care Administration program, in addition to the previously cited courses, he taught managerial accounting for health care administration and health care information systems. His research focuses on the impact of public intervention on health care expenditures, quality management, strategic planning, and the history of economic thought.